Content by Charles Sterling

Who’s Ready for Windows Presenation Foundation?

I just read Paul’s challenge that my team should give him 10 reasons why ISV’s should start using WPF over Windows Forms due to the lack of two controls like the DataGrid or date time picker….

My answer to Paul is the same as my reply to developers writing console applications 15 years ago -when they indicated their applications were much faster than Windows applications. He should stay with what he knows; if Paul doesn’t understand how a new technology can improve an application then developing with it probably isn’t the right choice for him. -Just like console applications of yesteryear; raster based applications will be around for a very long time and somebody will need to write them.

On a related note, i work wth the largest ISV in Australia and they consider their user interface/experience a key differentiator as all their competitors already have applications based on normal Windows controls – how serious are they? -to the point they have two developers dedicated to DirectX!

So for the developer looking to deliver a user exprerience that was only possible before with DriectX in a WebApplication development paradigm (ie our future) you might check out

Fwiw Foxpro had a beautiful console based datagrid and calendar control long before VB became “.net’ed”

PS Reminds me of the joke about an old lumber jack that came into a hardware shop to buy a chainsaw. The next day he returns the chainsaw indicating it was no better than his hand saw. The clerk puzzled put it on the floor and started the motor…at which point the lumber jack screamed “WHAT the hell was that noise!?!?!?!?!?!”